KUALA LUMPUR - A top United
States foreign service officer has expressed optimism over the future of
bilateral relations with Malaysia which he described as a strategic partner and
friend.
US Deputy Secretary of State
William J. Burns who was here for a two-day working visit likened relations
between nations to that of cycling.
"Either you keep pedalling
or you fall over. The road before America and Malaysia holds enormous promise
for both of us.
"Our people are learning
together. Our governments are working together. Our values and interests push
us ahead together.
"We just have to keep
pedalling forward together into the Asia-Pacific century unfolding before
us," he said at the Institute for Strategic and International Studies
(Isis) here on Thursday.
Burns, who had earlier called
on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Putrajaya, spoke at length of
his country's ties with Malaysia which he said was an important part of
America's foreign policy strategy.
"We all too often found
ourselves on different sides of geopolitical fault lines and at times in the
past, have struggled to rise above mistrust.
"And yet today, this
relationship has become one of America's most promising in all of South-East
Asia.
"And the friendship and
frequent meetings between President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister Najib
have added to our momentum," he added.
Burns said that in a few weeks,
scores of American college graduates would begin teaching English as part of
the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant programme in Malaysian schools in
Pahang, Terengganu and Johor.
"We will triple the number
of Americans helping teach English in Malaysia next month and will keep
expanding on it in 2013 and 2014.
"These plans will make the
English Teaching Assistant programme in Malaysia our biggest in Asia and
second-largest in the world by 2014," he added.
Mergawati Zulfakar
The Star/Asia News Network
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